EVOLUTION AND SCIENCE David Cloud Way of Life Literature www.wayofife.org Copyright 2015 Tese studies are from An Unshakeable Faith: An Apologetics Course, 2015 edition. Outline Introduction History of Evolution Darwin Skeptics Today Natural Selection Mutations Billions of Years Ape Men Fossil Record Introduction THE FIERCE BATTLE Churches are losing the youth. An Answers in Genesis survey found that two-thirds of children and teens who regularly attend “conservative” churches are gone by college age. According to an email survey I took in 2010 the average number of youth who drop out of churches that responded is 50%. Titus 1:9-12; we must shut the mouths of the skeptics by refuting their error. THE OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE To protect you Te frst use of apologetics not to convince the unbeliever but to protect the believer, his family, and fellow believers. 1 When we are grounded in apologetics, we are not confused when we hear arguments by evolutionists, atheists, new agers, and cultists, either in person, in print, on the radio or television, or on the Internet. When we visit natural history museums we can see through the error of the displays. Churches must prepare the people to face the onslaught of end-time skepticism and apostasy, but most churches aren’t doing this. Tere are two common failings: (1) churches not careful enough about salvation; (2) churches not serious enough about training and discipleship. It is time to put away more of the games and get serious about these things. To prepare you to help other believers Every believer is to be a teacher (Heb. 5:12-14). We are to exhort one another (Heb. 10:25). To prepare you to challenge unbelievers We must be ready to give an answer to the unbeliever (1 Peter 3:15) Paul’s practice was to dispute with both Jews and Gentile (Acts 17:17). He reasoned and persuaded (Acts 18:4). His message on Mars Hill in Athens was a masterly example of the use of biblical apologetics in evangelism (Acts 17:18-34). Dr. Richard Lumsden, dean of doctoral training in medical biology at Tulane Medical School, trained 30 Ph.D.s. He was challenged by a student who simply asked questions. As a result, he began investigating the evidence for evolution for himself and starting reading the Bible. He eventually received Christ as Lord and Saviour. THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST VS. THE GOSPEL OF EVOLUTION Science has become a religion in modern society, but it cannot answer any of the important questions of life, such as the following: Where did the universe come from? Where did life come from? What is man? Why is man so diferent from the other creatures? What is human consciousness and where did it come from? Why does man have a sense of morality? Is there a purpose to human life? Is there a God? If so, who is He? How can we know Him? What lies beyond death? David Berlinski, a Jewish agnostic, understands that modern science does not hold the answers to life: 2 “If science stands opposed to religion, it is not because of anything contained in either the premises or the conclusions of the great scientifc theories. ... We do not know how the universe began. We do not know why it is there. Charles Darwin talked speculatively of life emerging from a ‘warm little pond.’ Te pond is gone. We have little idea how life emerged, and cannot with assurance say that it did. We cannot reconcile our understanding of the human mind with any trivial theory about the manner in which the brain functions. Beyond the trivial, we have no other theories. We can say nothing of interest about the human soul. We do not know what impels us to right conduct or where the form of the good is found” (David Berlinski, Te Devil’s Delusion, pp. xiv, xv). Evolutionists want the whole world to believe their doctrine. Tey are trying to destroy Christianity. But what do they have to ofer? Tey reject the gospel of Jesus Christ, but what is the evolutionist’s gospel? In a nutshell, it is the gospel of no God, no purpose, no eternal life. It is the gospel that the complex universe originated from some mysterious Big Bang, that everything came from nothing, that life sprang from non-life without a creator, that all living creatures, including man, are mere accidents of blind chance, that there is no God, no purpose to life, no heaven, no hell, man has no eternal soul and when he dies his existence ends. Richard Dawkins: “... we live in a universe which has no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indiference” (River Out of Eden, 1995). William Provine, biology professor at Cornell University: “Let me summarize my views on what modern evolutionary biology tells us loud and clear. ... Tere are no gods, no purposes, no goal- directed forces of any kind. Tere is no life afer death. ... Tere is no ultimate foundation for ethics, no ultimate meaning to life, and no free will for humans, either” (Origins Research, 1994, quoted from In Six Days, edited by John Ashton, p. 379). On the other hand, we have the lovely gospel of Jesus Christ. Creation by an amazing God; redemption by an amazing God; eternity with an amazing God! On the other hand, we have the beautiful gospel of Jesus Christ. It makes no sense for an atheist to fght for his view, because it has no meaning and no future. Even his very thoughts are meaningless, since they are mere random chemical processes in the brain. THE EVIDENCE FOR A CREATOR IS CLEAR, BUT MEN ARE SPIRITUALLY BLIND (Rom. 1:16-20). Five Lessons First, there is powerful evidence for God. Te evidence is the creation (Rom. 1:20) and man’s own conscience (Rom. 1:19; 2:14-15). Te evidence is everywhere. Even evolutionists speak of things such as the human body as “miraculous.” PBS’s series on human reproduction is called “Te Miracle of Life” and the sequel was called “Life’s Greatest Miracle.” 3 A miracle of design means there is a Designer and Builder. Tis is the law of cause and efect. Every efect must have a sufcient cause to explain it. Tis law is described in the Bible as follows: “every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God” (Heb. 3:4). Te genius fathers of modern science understood this. ISAAC NEWTON, discoverer of the law of gravity: “Tis most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being. ... Atheism is so senseless. When I look at the solar system, I see the earth at the right distance from the sun to receive the proper amounts of heat and light. Tis did not happen by chance” (Principia). ROBERT BOYLE, the father of modern chemistry: “Te vastness, beauty, orderliness, of the heavenly bodies, the excellent structure of animals and plants; and the other phenomena of nature justly induce an intelligent and unprejudiced observer to conclude a supremely powerful, just, and good author” (Works, vol. IV, p. 25). Second, God gives enough evidence to prove that the Bible is true, but man is responsible to believe (Heb. 11:6). God gave man a will and a choice. We see this in Adam and Eve, and we see it throughout human history. Compare Matthew 13:10-16. Jesus spoke in parables in order to hide the truth from those who did not want to believe, those who had already rejected the light. Consider the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:27-31). No amount of evidence will convince the willful skeptic. Renowned Harvard law professor Simon Greenleaf: “Christianity does not profess to convince the perverse and head-strong, to bring irresistible evidence to the daring and profane, to vanquish the proud scorner, and aford evidences from which the careless and perverse cannot possibly escape. Tis might go to destroy man’s responsibility. All that Christianity professes, is to propose such evidences as may satisfy the meek, the tractable, the candid, the serious inquirer” (Te Testimony of the Evangelists Examined by the Rules of Evidence). Tird, men suppress the truth because they love sin (Rom. 1:18). Tis teaches that the main battleground is the heart and the will rather than the mind. Fourth, spiritual blindness is the reason why men cannot see the evidence for God (2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:1-2). It is like a blind man who cannot see the beauty of creation. Te only hope is the gospel of Jesus Christ. When the sinner receives the gospel, he is born again and he has spiritual wisdom (1 Cor. 2:14-16; 2 Cor. 3:15-17). 4 Fifh, spiritual enlightenment comes by salvation (Rom. 1:16). Only by salvation are we brought out of darkness into light (2 Cor. 4:6; 1 Pet. 2:9). Only by salvation is the veil removed from the heart (2 Cor. 3:15-16). Only by salvation do we receive the Spirit of God as our Teacher (1 John 2:20, 27). Many young people who grow up in Christian homes are not born again. Tis is why their faith is easily overthrown. Tey are like the crowd that “believed in Jesus” in John 2:23-24 and then turned from Him in John 6:66. In contrast, we have the example of Peter who refused to turn from Christ because he had saving faith (John 6:67-69).